3.8 Conclusion
This study provides an overview of AMR research in wildlife on worldwide
scale, reporting valuable information related to annual publication
numbers, categories, institutions, countries, and researchers. Important
features and trends in science and performance during the period for
1979 to 2019 have been unearthed. All of the analyzed bibliometric
variables in this study revealed solid growth within this research
field, both in terms of increasing scientific production and research
collaboration. Increasingly, more researchers, institutions and
countries got involved in AMR research in wildlife over this period.
However, research output was distributed unevenly over all countries,
with the industrialized countries being more productive and owing more
collaborations among them and with other countries with lower funding
availability and research tradition in this area. While most research
was focused on the Microbiology and the Veterinary Sciences subject
categories in the initial publications, during the analyzed period this
topic became more multidisciplinary likely due to the recognized of the
“One Health” framework in AMR. Our findings show the value of
bibliometric methods to illustrate global research trends of AMR
research in wildlife. Thus, this study provides a helpful reference for
academics, veterinarians and policy decision makers. As research in AMR
focused on wildlife is still in its infancy, our findings provide a
‘snapshot’ of this field at an early stage of its development. But the
study of AMR in wildlife, only makes sense in the light of landscape
ecology. Therefore, future studies must overlap infectious disease
ecology, landscape ecology, and microbiology, to infer emergence,
transmission and identify environmental drivers of AMR spread across
space and between species. Such approach will significantly contribute
to disclose the dynamics of AMR in the wildlife interface by identifying
populations at risk, mapping high-risk areas and, consequently, by
directing surveillance programs and designing proactive management
actions.